DiscardedYKTTW The Mustafa YKTTW Discussion

Luck is an important factor in fiction. It seems like the heroes are always saved in the nick of time by complete chance. The Big Bad is sometimes defeated by an astronomical happening. But then there are the people who are not so lucky. They fall off cliffs, get hit by stray bullets, and sometimes meet their fate when rocks fall. But don't worry about the Mustafa. They can get shot, blown up, toasted lightly, poisoned, or stabbed, but they will NEVER die.

The Mustafa is characterized by a character who suffers extreme and/or frequent injury, but never seems to be maimed or killed by their misfortunes.

Examples:

In Austin Powers, there are two minor characters who are prone to significant injury, but never die as the results.

Mustafa, the Trope Namer, was a vaguely Turkish assassin (played by none other than Will Ferrell) hired by Dr. Evil to kill the titular character. In the first movie, he is dropped into Dr. Evil's incinerator after being blamed for the loss of Mr. Bigglesworth's hair. He calls for help, and when the 'help' that is sent shoots him instead of brining him burn ointment, there is a short pause, follwed by renewed cries for help. A final gunshot seemingly finishes him off. In the second movie, he is captured by Austin and questioned, only to shot with a poison dart. He then falls off a cliff, and begs Austin for help, and tries to stand up, resulting in both legs breaking. Austin leaves after Mustafa's wails begin to become awkward.

In the second film, a Femme Fatale assassin tries to distract Austin at a club while a second man does the dirty work. She is used as a Human Shield by Austin, resulting in a knife, a clip worth of bullets from an MP 40, a bazooka impact, and a multiple-story fall being inflicted on the woman. Over the course of her repeated injuries, she never seems to be fazed, rather chiding Austin that death is imminent, and continues her efforts even after she falls off of a building and as Austin is driving away.

This Cracked article is a short list of military heroes who survived ridiculous amounts of suffering and were ultimatley unaffected by it.

Replies: 6

Your reply:

Five hats means that five tropers think it is ready to publish.

You are saying that you think this draft is ready to be published. That means the description is not ambiguous,
it doesn't duplicate an existing trope, there are at least three examples, and the title makes sense.

Is that what you meant to do?

You are saying this draft has a ready-to-publish hat it does not deserve and you are taking it back.

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